South African Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie has called on the Proteas to boycott the 2025 ICC Champions Cup match against Afghanistan due to the Taliban government’s ban on women’s sports and the dissolution of the women’s cricket team since it returned to power in 2021. South Africa is led by Themba Bavuma. will begin their 2025 Champions Cup campaign with a Group B match against Afghanistan at the National Stadium in Karachi, Pakistan on February 21. Both teams are in Group B along with England and Australia.
“To be clear, the ICC has accepted the principle of equality in sport and that member countries must develop both male and female players. This is not the case in Afghanistan, suggesting that political interference in sports governance is occurring. They are patient there. At the same time, Sri Lanka was banned in 2023 for political interference.
“I recognize that the ICC, like most international sporting bodies, states that it does not tolerate political interference in the governance of sport, despite its obvious inconsistency with the situation in Afghanistan. It is not for me, as Sports Minister, to make the final decision on whether South Africa should commemorate the cricket matches against Afghanistan.
“If it had been my decision, this definitely would not have happened. As someone belonging to a race that was not given equal access to sporting opportunities during apartheid, it would be hypocritical and immoral to look the other way today when the same is being done to women anywhere in the world.
“Cricket South Africa, other federations and the ICC will need to think carefully about the message cricket wants to send to the world, and especially to women in the sport. I hope that the conscience of everyone involved in cricket, including fans, players and administrators, will take a strong stand of solidarity with the women of Afghanistan,” McKenzie said in a statement on his “X” account on Thursday.
Earlier, Labor MP Tony Antoniazzi, signed by almost 160 members of the UK Parliament, called on the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to boycott the match against Afghanistan, which will be played in Lahore on February 26.
While ECB Chairman Richard Gould has rejected calls for a boycott of the game, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has also called on the ICC to follow its own rules, which oblige any full member that does not field men’s and women’s teams in international cricket to participate in international cricket competitions. be suspended.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Topics mentioned in this article
Leave a comment